Lynch Shot Iraqi Soldiers

The Washington Post ^ | April 3, 2003 | Susan Schmidt and Vernon Loeb

[John H K]

Pfc. Jessica Lynch, rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the Army's 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, U.S. officials said yesterday.

[MattGarrett]

Don't forget a promotion to SGT. no doubt!

DOO RAH!

[doug from upland]

I don't think any of her future kindergarten students are going to mess with her.

[fourdeuce82d]

Several officials cautioned that the precise sequence of events is still being determined, and that further information will emerge as Lynch is debriefed

I have no reason to doubt that this happened exactly as it was described...my only concern is that...as they say..."First reports are always wrong."

I would love nothing more than to have this confirmed- " OUR GIRLS CAN KICK YOUR ASS"

Beyond that, what a neat thing for any daughter I ever have to hear about, and use as an exemplar- "Honey, don't be frightened of boys- if they act inappropriately, shoot them."

My concern is that early reports may turn out to be inaccurate, and then be used to unfairly sully those involved.

God bless her, and the folks that got her out, and her family, and the United States of America.

[dogbyte12]

Could you picture her poor children though...? One bitches about homework being too tough, and she tells them about being shot, tortured, watching her friends die, and then she had to go through labor too?

Poor kids don't stand a chance of ever getting away with anything.

[ConservativeLawyer]

Heroism in such an environment has a fairly high threshold.

Perhaps we are looking at different comparisions. She could have stayed home, like many her age, and partied at raves or blocked traffic at a peace protest.

Instead she, at great personal risk, volunteered to serve her country and travel to Iraq to protect me and my family. And she suffered terribly because she chose the honorable thing to do. Yes, she was just doing her job. But to me she and all the troops over there are heroes.

[patriciaruth]

West, north or east?

[MattGarrett]

[freepersup]

also a missing US Marine- from Arizona, female, native (Navajo / Hopi ?) Lori Pastiewa (?)

[FirstTomato]

You have made a false assumption--I'm a female. Like I said, I am very glad that she fought back. But why does that make her a heroine? She only did what anyone would do, knowing the reputation of the Iraqis for how they treat POWs.

Women in the military are more a hinderance than a help.

[nutmeg]

Wow, what a story... and she's only 19 years old!

[HairOfTheDog]

HA! - Great post.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ping list.

[AFPhys]

...most civilians have little clue [that] what "just doing my job" means in the military belittles what many other unsung "heros" do on a regular basis. Those who know such common valor, describe a hero as someone who has truly gone above and beyond. The special forces soldiers ... who rescued Pfc. Lynch ... wouldn't even call themselves heros. Read a few Medal Of Honor citations and you will begin to have a clue of what I'm talking about.

Yup. I cringe so often when I hear of some civilian's "heroic" efforts when that consisted of simply holding out a hand for someone. Many such "heroic" efforts are everyday events for those in the military for those in operational units, and even more so when they are in combat.

[Squantos]

OUR GIRLS CAN KICK YOUR ASS"

Excellant ...next wars leaflets to be dropped IMO....Nice comments , 4 duce.....well said.

Stay Safe !

[Kevin Curry]

Many such "heroic" efforts are everyday events for those in the military for those in operational units, and even more so when they are in combat.

Good point.

[freepersup]

CAPTURED:

March 24:

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Ronald D. Young Jr., 26, Lithia Springs, Ga.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 David S. Williams, 30, Orlando, Fla.

March 23:

Army Spc. Edgar Hernandez, 21, Mission, Texas

Army Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23, Alamogordo, N.M.

Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, 30, Fort Bliss, Texas

Army Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, Park City, Kan.

Army Sgt. James Riley, 31, Pennsauken, N.J.

MISSING:

March 23:

Marine Lance Cpl. Thomas A. Blair, 24, Broken Arrow, Okla.

Marine Pfc. Tamario D. Burkett, 21, Buffalo, N.Y.

Marine Cpl. Kemaphoom A. Chanawongse, 22, Waterford, Conn.

Marine Lance Cpl. Donald J. Cline, Jr., Sparks, Nev.

Marine Pvt. Jonathan L. Gifford, 30, Decatur, Ill.

Marine Pvt. Nolen R. Hutchings, 19, Boiling Springs, S.C.

Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, 19, Palestine, W.Va.

Army Spc. James Kiehl, 22, Comfort, Texas

Marine Lance Cpl. Patrick R. Nixon, 21, Gallatin, Tenn.

Army Pvt. Brandon Sloan, 19, Bedford Heights, Ohio

Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, Tuba City, Ariz.

Army Sgt. Donald Walters, 33, Salem, Ore.

Army Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy, 38, Cleveland

Army Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, 18, El Paso, Texas

Army Chief Warrant Officer Johnny Villareal Mata, 35, El Paso, Texas

Marine Lance Cpl. Michael J. Williams, 31, Arizona

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Don't ever piss off a woman with a rifle.

Or a knife. Or a telephone. Or a can of soda. Or a lamp. etc. etc.

[JackelopeBreeder]

The fact is, men will die to protect women. Their presence on the battle field is an additional burden for out troops.

True enough -- it's imprinted on our DNA. Men will do totally insane shit to protect a woman or a child. Even if it's a 90-year old Iraqi woman or a 10-year old wannabe fedayeen with a live grenade in his hand and he just handed you the pin.

Women are different. (Thank God. Maybe even a different species.) But remember a few lessons from nature -- like never get between a mama bear and her cubs.

No male has ever succeeded in knocking me down. Two women have; and the biggest of the two weighed maybe 105 with her clothes on. Both times it was a fair punch.

I had a number of female troops during my 20 years with the Army. At least 90% of them were as tough as us males and we were all major league trouble makers, barroom brawlers, and generally a pain in the ass to our food chain and the MPs.

These women were probably the only ones who routinely went into the Korean DMZ, and I don't mean just visiting Panmunjom. I trusted them implicitly to cover my fanny and felt sorry for anyone who crossed their front sight post for the wrong reasons. A USMC major general met up with early retirement for expressing doubts about their abilities. Poetic justice -- he complained about their presence in what we considered REMF country and was ordered to publicly apologize before he took up fishing as a hobby.

These women routinely went into dangerous situations the Army will never even mention. Let me mention just one of these wenches before this post turns into three screens full of bullshit.

Lori was with one group of us on a special operation; my bag, wrong time of month. A couple of us Y-chromosome types went on extended recon and left her to watch the vehicle. When we came back, she was engaged in a rock throwing contest with the very unhappy occupants of a North Korean guard post.

A couple of days later, she really proved her worth. One of the local ROK artillery units decided to practice their skills, and as usual did not coordinate with any damn body. Four of us were trapped in their chosen impact area, with proximity-fuzed (air burst) 155mm stuff going off overhead. Lori sat exposed on a ridge line talking us out of there, knowing she stood a good chance of getting turned into pink goo.

She made First Sergeant two years ago.

[Kevin Curry]

At least 90% of them were as tough as us males

Pure BS and bar talk.

[freepersup]

My mistake- individual is from the Army and may be the person that is missing from Jessica Lynch's unit ?

Army Pfc. Lori Piestewa, 22, Tuba City, Ariz.